Tagged: Jean Segura

Broken News: Segura, Wagner Traded To Arizona

The Milwaukee Brewers have acquired right-handed pitcher Chase Anderson, infielder Aaron Hill, shortstop Isan Diaz and cash from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for shortstop Jean Segura and right-handed pitcher Tyler Wagner. The announcement was made by General Manager David Stearns.

“In Chase Anderson and Aaron Hill, we are adding two proven Major League contributors who will impact our team this year,” said Stearns.

“Chase is a young starting pitcher who has already enjoyed success at the Major League level. Aaron has a long history of production and positional versatility. In addition, we are excited to be able to add Isan Diaz to our growing supply of high upside minor-league talent.”

Anderson, 28, owns a career Major League record of 15-13 with a 4.18 ERA in 48 starts, including 6-6 with a 4.30 ERA in 27 starts for the Diamondbacks last season. He was selected by Arizona in the ninth round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft and tied the Mets’ Jacob deGrom for the most wins by a National League rookie in 2014 (21gs, 9-7, 4.01era).

Hill, 33, is a veteran of 11 seasons in the Major Leagues with Toronto (2005-11) and Arizona (2011-15). The two-time Silver Slugger Award winner (2009, 2012) and former American League All-Star (2009) is a career .268 hitter with 151 HR, 650 RBI and 70 stolen bases in 1,400 games (116g, .230, 6hr, 39rbi in 2015). Throughout his career, the versatile Hill has started games at second base (1,148), third base (72), shortstop (61) and designated hitter (39).

Some of Hill’s best work at the plate has come at Miller Park, where he owns a batting average of .429 (18-for-42) with 4 HR and 11 RBI in 10 career games. Hill hit for the cycle against the Brewers on June 29, 2012 at Miller Park, his first game at this venue.

Diaz, 19, completed his second professional season in 2015 as he batted .360 with 13 HR, 51 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 68 games at Rookie Missoula. He earned Pioneer League Most Valuable Player honors as he led the league in doubles (25), slugging percentage (.640), total bases (174) and extra-base hits (44) while ranking among the top five in the circuit in hits (2nd, 98), runs (2nd, 58), home runs (T2nd), batting average (3rd), RBI (3rd), on-base percentage (3rd, .436) and triples (T5th, 6).

Segura, 25, batted .266 with 23 HR, 144 RBI and 96 stolen bases in four seasons with the Brewers (2012-15). A National League All-Star in 2013, he batted .257 with 6 HR, 50 RBI and 25 stolen bases in 142 games last season.

Wagner, 25, was selected by Milwaukee in the fourth round of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft. He made his Major League debut last season as he started three games for the Brewers (his first coming on May 31 vs. Arizona), going 0-2 with a 7.24 ERA. Wagner owns a career record in the minor leagues of 35-23 with a 2.95 ERA in 91 games, including 88 starts.

Segura Latest to Hit Disabled List for Brewers

In the time leading up to Wednesday night’s game against the Chicago White Sox at Miller Park, the Milwaukee Brewers alerted everyone that their posted lineup would be changing. Jean Segura, who had been set to play shortstop and lead off for Craig Counsell, would no longer be participating in that evening’s contest. The given reason was soreness in Segura’s pinky finger on his right hand.

Scorebook pages were swapped out or updated with the new player and the new batting order, but beyond that nobody gave it another thought, really. Well, until this morning anyway.

That’s when a pair of tweets hit the interwebz from the Brewers official account. The first alerted us that Segura’s finger soreness was being understandably caused by a fracture.

The second filled us in on how the Brewers would be managing the roster in light of the news.

While it’s obviously terrible news that “Seggy” will miss time, that he will is an unavoidable certainty. Therefore, let’s not dwell on that part of things. Instead, let’s focus on the latter half of this transaction news.

Luis Sardiñas, who will turn just 22 years old on Saturday, is a switch-hitting infielder who hails from Venezuela. He is the same switch-hitting Venezuelan infielder acquired from the Texas Rangers over the off-season in the Yovani Gallardo trade.

So far this season, Sardiñas has slashed .288/.324/.386 for Triple-A Colorado Springs. That includes seven doubles and three triples but no home runs. He’s struck out just 19 times in 141 plate appearances, but also walked but seven.

Defensively capable at shortstop, third, and second, Sardiñas is a true shortstop first and foremost. That’s been reflected in his defensive log with the Sky Sox inasmuch as he’s played in 31 games at shortstop with just one appearance at the keystone and zero at the hot corner.

Sardiñas made his Major League debut in 2014 for the Rangers, appearing out of necessity after that team suffered an ridiculous amount of injuries at the big league level. That’s how he gets his next opportunity as well, though his time was certainly coming at some point regardless of why.

It wouldn’t shock me if Sardiñas is given the opportunity to start some over the next two weeks. As mentioned, he’s a switch-hitter which gives Craig Counsell another player for whom he needn’t worry about late-game matchups.

All that said, let’s look at one more potentially impacted part of the Brewers organization by way of this promotion. The Sky Sox don’t exactly have another true shortstop on their roster. Donnie Murphy and Pete Orr could fill in (and maybe Chris Nelson too, though I don’t know if he’s played short and I don’t have time to check right now), but this seems like the right time to promote from within.

The Brewers are currently carrying two true shortstops at Double-A Biloxi in the persons of Yadiel Rivera and top prospect Orlando Arcia. They carry surprisingly similar stat lines to this point, for what it’s worth. Also, when a spot opened at Double-A last year, Rivera was promoted first. Granted he’s older (having turned just 23 in his own right on May 2nd) and has been a professional longer (by a year) than Arcia, but that doesn’t always amount to a hill of beans in the grand scheme.

Doug Melvin should use this opportunity to see what he’s got in one of these Double-A shortstops. I’d guess they’d opt to move Rivera first.

Either way, there exists a chance to make the most of this unfortunate situation. Sardiñas gets his call back to The Show and someone should, in my humble opinion, be given the chance to ply their trade just one step away from Milwaukee.

Don’t Call It a Comeback

BBtJN Logo

My annual countdown to Opening Day will return for another season!

There has been some decent 40-man roster turnover since Spring Training. I mark the passage of time from (roughly) the turn of the calendar until Brewers Opening Day by previewing players who wear a certain uniform number on the corresponding day.

We’re 98 days away from Opening Day, so we won’t get underway on this thing quite yet, but once the countdown coincides with a jersey, you’ll see the first column go up.

I call the series “Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers” and it works a little something like this:

  • Opening Day is April 6, 2015.
  • March 29th is eight days before April 6th.
  • Ryan Braun wears number 8 on his jersey.
  • I’ll write an article reviewing Ryan Braun’s 2014 and looking ahead to his 2015 and post it on March 29, 2015.

Make sense? Here’s another example:

  • Jonathan Broxton wears number 51.
  • 51 days before April 6th is February 14th.
  • I’ll post my Broxton column on February 14th.

I do a column on every player who is on the Brewers 40-man roster along with most Spring Training non-roster invitees. I’ll update this space with a full schedule once the uniform numbers for the newest 40-man additions are announced. I’ll update it again as non-roster invitees are revealed.

Thanks for reading and sticking with me this winter. BBtJN is a very popular series and I thank you for that. Stay tuned!

Legends of the Field Giveaway

From my partner Legends of the Field (look to the right for their logo which links to their website), here are the autographed photos I’m giving away.

LOTFGiveaway

Stay tuned to both Twitter (@BrewerNation) & Facebook (facebook.com/BrewerNation) for instructions on how to qualify to win one.

I have two prints of each player to give away, so there will be four winners on each platform (and no, I won’t let you win twice but you can certainly enter on both), so your odds of winning are pretty good.

For an extra entry, leave a comment on the blog with your social media username. You need a free account to do that, but taking the time shows you care.

Good luck!

Oh, and if you don’t win, go to their website, find something you want to buy, use my code at checkout and save 15%! The code: BREWERNATION15

Brewers Move Up In the Latest All-Star Balloting Update

NLASGUpdate4

You’re not seeing things. Aramis Ramirez has taken over the top spot in the  latest National League All-Star balloting update provided by Major League Baseball. Carlos Gomez has also moved back into starting position and Jonathan Lucroy has passed Buster Posey for second place among NL backstops!

Oh, and how about Jean Segura in second among shortstops and Mark Reynolds and Rickie Weeks both getting on the board at their respective positions in 4th place?

Keep on Voting Brewers!!!

http://brewers.com/vote

2014 NL All-Star Balloting Update 3

In the third update of National League voting totals for the 2014 MLB All-Star Game, Carlos Gomez has jumped two positions to move into third place among NL outfielders in the league’s tightest race with 1,192,174 votes. He is less than 67,000 votes behind Giancarlo Stanton (1,259,047) for second place. Yasiel Puig currently leads all NL outfielders with 1,472,717 votes.          
                                                          
Gomez ranks among the National League leaders in a number of offensive categories, including slugging percentage (4th, .554), total bases (4th, 128), extra-base hits (T-4th, 31), runs (T-5th, 42), doubles (T-5th, 17), batting average (7th, .307), home runs (T-8th, 12) and stolen bases (T-10th, 11).  He is one of three players in the majors with at least 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases this season, joining Colorado’s Charlie Blackmon and Minnesota’s Brian Dozier.

Ryan Braun, one of 10 National League players with more than one million votes, is sixth among outfielders with 1,058,680 votes in the tightly-contested outfield race. Jonathan Lucroy remains third among National League catchers with 771,313 votes, trailing the Cardinals’ Yadier Molina and the Giants’ Buster Posey. Lucroy is among NL leaders in multi-hit games (T-1st, 24), doubles (T-2nd, 23), batting average (3rd, .335), hits (4th, 75), on-base percentage (6th, .398) and slugging percentage (10th, .500). 

Jean Segura (567,481 votes) ranks third at shortstop, Aramis Ramirez is now fourth among NL third basemen (615,597 votes) and Khris Davis (459,771 votes) moved up a spot to 13th in the outfield.

Balloting at Miller Park continues through this Sunday, June 15, comprising 23 home dates. Fans can vote for the Major League All-Stars online at Brewers.com through Thursday, July 3 at 10:59pm CT.
 
Brewers fans have the well-earned reputation for filling the ballot boxes with All-Star votes for Milwaukee Brewers players year in and year out. With at least one Brewers player elected to start in five of the last seven All-Star Games since 2007, Milwaukee fans demonstrated that it doesn’t take the largest market to be heard as they voted for their favorite Brewers in almost unheard of numbers.
 
This season, eight Brewers players are featured on the ballot for the 85th Major League Baseball All-Star Game to be held on Tuesday, July 15 at Target Field in Minneapolis. Brewers fans will again have the opportunity to show their overwhelming fan support by helping decide which players will be named to the Midsummer Classic through the 2014 MLB In-Stadium All-Star Balloting Program and the 2014 All-Star Game MLB.com Ballot.
 
Brewers players on this year’s All-Star ballot include C Jonathan Lucroy, 1B Mark Reynolds, 2B Rickie Weeks, 3B Aramis Ramirez, SS Jean Segura, OF Ryan Braun, OF Carlos Gomez and OF Khris Davis. 

At Brewers.com, all fans voting 21 or more times for their favorite Brewers will be entered into a drawing to win a prize package that includes: four Field Box tickets to a mutually agreed-upon game, an opportunity to go down Bernie’s slide (restrictions apply), an opportunity to watch batting practice that day from the field and a meet and greet with five-time All-Star Ryan Braun. There is a maximum of 25 votes per email address. More information and rules may be found at Brewers.com. Additionally, fans voting online will be eligible to purchase Field Outfield and Club Outfield seats for select Brewers games at a savings of up to 50% (details available after voting at Brewers.com).
 
Those visiting Miller Park are encouraged to vote early and often via paper ballot at the All-Star Polling District, set up during Brewers home games along the first base concourse. In-park balloting at Miller Park continues through Sunday, June 15, comprising 23 home dates. The Vote Brewers! campaign features event staff decked out at home games in promotional t-shirts, and signage along the Miller Park fascia and behind the plate. In addition, media partners FOX Sports Wisconsin and Newsradio 620 WTMJ will be promoting the initiative on broadcasts, and the World Famous Klement’s Racing Sausages will help distribute voting information around the city. There will also be voting parties staged during the balloting period.
 
With every 10 ballots turned in to the All-Star Polling District, fans will receive one raffle ticket that will enter them in a drawing for the opportunity to win a collector’s item daily, ranging from game-used memorabilia to player autographs. A drawing will be held during every home game through June 15 and the winning ticket will be announced during the game. Rules will be available at the Polling District.
 
Last season, Gomez and Segura represented the Brewers at the Midsummer Classic. Ryan Braun narrowly missed being elected a starter for the 2012 MLB All-Star Game after finishing fourth in voting among National League outfielders to Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers by just over 100,000 votes. Braun was later named a starter to replace the injured Kemp.
 
In 2011, Braun led National League outfielders in voting for the fourth straight season and led all NL players in voting for the first time (5,928,004). He is the only Brewers player to ever be elected to start in four consecutive All-Star Games (did not play in 2011 due to injury). Rickie Weeks was selected to his first All-Star Game as the NL’s starting second baseman and Prince Fielder started and made his third All-Star appearance in 2011. In 2010, Braun and Corey Hart started for the Brewers (Hart was named as a starter after an injury to Atlanta’s Jason Heyward).
 
In 2009, Braun and Fielder joined Trevor Hoffman as All-Stars. In addition to Braun in 2008, Hart was named that year to the National League All-Star team via the Monster All-Star Final Vote. In 2007, Fielder received the second-most votes in the National League en route to his first career All-Star team, becoming the first Brewers player to be voted to the All-Star Game since Paul Molitor was selected at third base in 1988. A complete list of All-Stars in franchise history can be found on page 285 of the 2014 Brewers media guide.
 
Both the National League and American League teams will have eight fan-elected starters. The pitchers and reserves for both will be determined through a combination of “Player Ballot” choices and selections made by the two All-Star managers.

Official Release: 2nd NL All-Star Balloting Update

The second update of National League voting totals for the 2014 MLB All-Star Game, announced today by Major League Baseball, includes six Brewers among the leaders at their respective positions.

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Jonathan Lucroy moved up a spot to third among National League catchers with 522,310 votes, trailing the Cardinals’ Yadier Molina and the Giants’ Buster Posey. Lucroy is among NL leaders in doubles (3rd, 21), multi-hit games (T3rd, 21), batting average (4th, .325), hits (T5th, 66) and on-base percentage (9th, .394).  Aramis Ramirez (472,321 votes) and Jean Segura (403,259 votes) also rank third at their positions.

Three Brewers outfielders are among the leaders. Carlos Gomez is now in fifth among National League outfielders (819,385 votes), Ryan Braun (750,672 votes) is sixth and Khris Davis (329,744 votes) ranks 14th in the outfield. Gomez ranks among the National League leaders in total bases (5th, 116), extra-base hits (T5th, 28), slugging percentage (6th, .566), OPS (6th, .954), HR (T6th, 11), runs (T7th, 36), stolen bases (T8th, 11) and batting average (9th, .312).

Brewers fans have the well-earned reputation for filling the ballot boxes with All-Star votes for Milwaukee Brewers players year in and year out. With at least one Brewers player elected to start in five of the last seven All-Star Games since 2007, Milwaukee fans demonstrated that it doesn’t take the largest market to be heard as they voted for their favorite Brewers in almost unheard of numbers.

This season, eight Brewers players are featured on the ballot for the 85th Major League Baseball All-Star Game to be held on Tuesday, July 15 at Target Field in Minneapolis. Brewers fans will again have the opportunity to show their overwhelming fan support by helping decide which players will be named to the Midsummer Classic through the 2014 MLB In-Stadium All-Star Balloting Program and the 2014 All-Star Game MLB.com Ballot.

Brewers players on this year’s All-Star ballot include C Jonathan Lucroy, 1B Mark Reynolds, 2B Rickie Weeks, 3B Aramis Ramirez, SS Jean Segura, OF Ryan Braun, OF Carlos Gomez and OF Khris Davis.

At Brewers.com, all fans voting 21 or more times for their favorite Brewers will be entered into a drawing to win a prize package that includes: four Field Box tickets to a mutually agreed-upon game, an opportunity to go down Bernie’s slide (restrictions apply), an opportunity to watch batting practice that day from the field and a meet and greet with five-time All-Star Ryan Braun. There is a maximum of 25 votes per email address. More information and rules may be found at Brewers.com. Additionally, fans voting online will be eligible to purchase Field Outfield and Club Outfield seats for select Brewers games at a savings of up to 50% (details available after voting at Brewers.com).

Those visiting Miller Park are encouraged to vote early and often via paper ballot at the All-Star Polling District, set up during Brewers home games along the first base concourse. In-park balloting at Miller Park continues through Friday, June 15, comprising 23 home dates. The Vote Brewers! campaign features event staff decked out at home games in promotional t-shirts, and signage along the Miller Park fascia and behind the plate. In addition, media partners FOX Sports Wisconsin and Newsradio 620 WTMJ will be promoting the initiative on broadcasts, and the World Famous Klement’s Racing Sausages will help distribute voting information around the city. There will also be voting parties staged during the balloting period.

With every 10 ballots turned in to the All-Star Polling District, fans will receive one raffle ticket that will enter them in a drawing for the opportunity to win a collector’s item daily, ranging from game-used memorabilia to player autographs. A drawing will be held during every home game through June 15 and the winning ticket will be announced during the game. Rules will be available at the Polling District.

Last season, Gomez and Segura represented the Brewers at the Midsummer Classic. Ryan Braun narrowly missed being elected a starter for the 2012 MLB All-Star Game after finishing fourth in voting among National League outfielders to Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers by just over 100,000 votes. Braun was later named a starter to replace the injured Kemp.

In 2011, Braun led National League outfielders in voting for the fourth straight season and led all NL players in voting for the first time (5,928,004). He is the only Brewers player to ever be elected to start in four consecutive All-Star Games (did not play in 2011 due to injury). Rickie Weeks was selected to his first All-Star Game as the NL’s starting second baseman and Prince Fielder started and made his third All-Star appearance in 2011. In 2010, Braun and Corey Hart started for the Brewers (Hart was named as a starter after an injury to Atlanta’s Jason Heyward).

In 2009, Braun and Fielder joined Trevor Hoffman as All-Stars. In addition to Braun in 2008, Hart was named that year to the National League All-Star team via the Monster All-Star Final Vote. In 2007, Fielder received the second-most votes in the National League en route to his first career All-Star team, becoming the first Brewers player to be voted to the All-Star Game since Paul Molitor was selected at third base in 1988. A complete list of All-Stars in franchise history can be found on page 285 of the 2014 Brewers media guide.

Both the National League and American League teams will have eight fan-elected starters. The pitchers and reserves for both will be determined through a combination of “Player Ballot” choices and selections made by the two All-Star managers.

Fans can vote for the Major League All-Stars online at Brewers.com through Thursday, July 3 at 10:59pm CT.

Demonstrating a Willingness To Change

A few funny things have happened on the way to June.

While the Brewers have been slogging through a seesaw month of May (two and six in their first eight, five and one in the next six, one and five in the six after that, five and two in the most recent seven games entering play on May 31st), they’ve tinkered and toyed with some things that we simply wouldn’t see — because we haven’t — in recent history.

First, the Brewers posted their May 24th lineup and it featured a major change. After a day off to rest his tweaked oblique, rightfielder Ryan Braun was back in the lineup but he was hitting second. It’s a move that sabermetricians would love as there is plenty of statistical evidence that the second spot in the lineup is the most efficient and productive spot for your “best” hitter. Braun and his offensive brethren would falter in that game from a run production standpoint as they would only score once despite 11 hits. (It was Braun that scored the run, for what it’s worth.) But this would not be a one day trial that manager Ron Roenicke would abandon due to lackluster results in the columns of R or W.

Roenicke explained his thoughts after the game, more or less, and confirmed that this was the plan for a while. Truth be told, it started in phases even though that might not have been by design. Season-long leadoff hitter Carlos Gomez needed a day off two days earlier on May 22. It was that day that Roenicke moved Jean Segura up to lead off for Milwaukee. Segura responded by going 3-for-5 with two runs scored in a loss to Atlanta. When Gomez returend on May 23, Roenicke left Segura at the top and inserted the powerful Gomez in the cleanup position. That was seen as a reaction to Braun being out and moving Jonathan Lucroy up to Braun’s customary third spot. It was seen as a blip and scarcely even mentioned let alone thought deeply about. Then Braun returned on May 24 and Segura, Lucroy and Gomez held their positions as Braun slid in at number two.

The offense has been on a tear since that 22nd of May, tying a franchise record with at least 10 hits in 10 straight games. All this has happened without Aramis Ramirez, and it’s almost June 1, which we collectively know as Aramis Ramirez Day. If he comes back (scheduled for Wednesday in Minnesota and likely DHing) and doesn’t take long to warm up, the offense could really make a splash early in the second third of the season.

But there is more going on than just a significant lineup change.

On that same May 24 in Miami, the Brewers outrighted Jeff Bianchi to Triple-A Nashville after he cleared waivers. Bianchi, who is out of options, has been outrighted off of a 40-man roster before in his career and therefore had the right to refuse this assignment thereby electing free agency. He eventually decided to stay, but the point here is that there was more going on than simply swapping one utility infielder for another (they called up Irving Falu, but you know that).

The Brewers of the recent past would not risk losing an asset, even one grossly underperforming as was Bianchi, by outrighting them. This is a front office displaying more of a sense of urgency than even they themselves did this off-season by signing Matt Garza and bolstering a rotation that many assumed they’d just fill in house with five readily identified arms.

That they were willing to shake up their lineup, one that had been struggling to score runs shortly beforehand, and outright Bianchi at all speaks to the team’s desire to sustain their position atop the National League Central. They are not going to stand idly by, subscribing to the Ned Yost School of Thought that once infamously and dismissively reminded worriers that his Brewers were “still in first place”.

No. These Brewers, while still in first place, were seeing a once large lead begin diminshing as perennial division rivals the St. Louis Cardinals began to find their stride a bit while the Brewers scuffled. Their lead was down to 1.5 games as recently as May 27. Milwaukee is certainly striding right at the moment as they’ve won their last three with St. Louis losing its last three and the division lead entering play on the last day of May was back up to 4.0 full games.

Complacency and status quo are not seemingly in the toolbox of the 2014 Milwaukee Brewers. Kudos to them for yet another day alone in first place (where they’ve been since April 9) but more so they deserve accolades and attention for not just thinking that was good enough.

What’s more? They aren’t necessarily done.

They could consider changes in their first base platoon, including dumping the defensively solid but weak-sticked Lyle Overbay. They could juggle their bullpen pieces a bit which they’ll have to do when Tom Gorzelanny is ready but there’s certainly room for more if they desire. They could certainly continue to tweak their bench and bring in a more powerful option their the currently versatile yet light-hitting duo of Falu and Elian Herrera. And if someone doesn’t perform in that rotation or if they need to use a piece to get a piece elsewhere, they could make the decision to go with Jimmy Nelson at some point.

The bottom line is that if they decide to stand pat this season it won’t be due to a lack of want to change nor will it be due to any apprehension thereof. This is a front office that not only sees the benefits in making moves, but certainly won’t be lured in by making a change for the sake of change.

It’s a different feeling than we’re used to as fans over recent history, but it’s certainly a welcome one.

Official Release: First 2014 NL All-Star Balloting Update

The first update of National League voting totals for the 2014 MLB All-Star Game, announced today by Major League Baseball, includes five Brewers among the leaders at their respective positions.

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Aramis Ramirez ranks second among National League third basemen with 282,843 votes, trailing only Colorado’s Nolan Arenado (318,111 votes). Ryan Braun is third among National League outfielders (446,780 votes) and Carlos Gomez ranks sixth in the outfield (370,630 votes). Colorado’s Charlie Blackmon (549,394 votes) and Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen (467,378 votes) are the leading vote-getters among NL outfielders.
 
Catcher Jonathan Lucroy is fourth among NL catchers with 236,935 votes and Jean Segura is currently fifth at shortstop with 202,597 votes.
 
Brewers fans have the well-earned reputation for filling the ballot boxes with All-Star votes for Milwaukee Brewers players year in and year out. With at least one Brewers player elected to start in five of the last seven All-Star Games since 2007, Milwaukee fans demonstrated that it doesn’t take the largest market to be heard as they voted for their favorite Brewers in almost unheard of numbers.
 
This season, eight Brewers players are featured on the ballot for the 85th Major League Baseball All-Star Game to be held on Tuesday, July 15 at Target Field in Minneapolis. Brewers fans will again have the opportunity to show their overwhelming fan support by helping decide which players will be named to the Midsummer Classic through the 2014 MLB In-Stadium All-Star Balloting Program and the 2014 All-Star Game MLB.com Ballot.
 
Brewers players on this year’s All-Star ballot include C Jonathan Lucroy, 1B Mark Reynolds, 2B Rickie Weeks, 3B Aramis Ramirez, SS Jean Segura, OF Ryan Braun, OF Carlos Gomez and OF Khris Davis. 
 
At Brewers.com, all fans voting 21 or more times for their favorite Brewers will be entered into a drawing to win a prize package that includes: four Field Box tickets to a mutually agreed-upon game, an opportunity to go down Bernie’s slide (restrictions apply), an opportunity to watch batting practice that day from the field and a meet and greet with five-time All-Star Ryan Braun. There is a maximum of 25 votes per email address. More information and rules may be found at Brewers.com. Additionally, fans voting online will be eligible to purchase Field Outfield and Club Outfield seats for select Brewers games at a savings of up to 50% (details available after voting at Brewers.com).
 
Those visiting Miller Park are encouraged to vote early and often via paper ballot at the All-Star Polling District, set up during Brewers home games along the first base concourse. In-park balloting at Miller Park continues through Friday, June 15, comprising 23 home dates. The Vote Brewers! campaign features event staff decked out at home games in promotional t-shirts, and signage along the Miller Park fascia and behind the plate. In addition, media partners FOX Sports Wisconsin and Newsradio 620 WTMJ will be promoting the initiative on broadcasts, and the World Famous Klement’s Racing Sausages will help distribute voting information around the city. There will also be voting parties staged during the balloting period.
 
With every 10 ballots turned in to the All-Star Polling District, fans will receive one raffle ticket that will enter them in a drawing for the opportunity to win a collector’s item daily, ranging from game-used memorabilia to player autographs. A drawing will be held during every home game through June 15 and the winning ticket will be announced during the game. Rules will be available at the Polling District.
 
Last season, Gomez and Segura represented the Brewers at the Midsummer Classic. Ryan Braun narrowly missed being elected a starter for the 2012 MLB All-Star Game after finishing fourth in voting among National League outfielders to Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers by just over 100,000 votes. Braun was later named a starter to replace the injured Kemp.
 
In 2011, Braun led National League outfielders in voting for the fourth straight season and led all NL players in voting for the first time (5,928,004). He is the only Brewers player to ever be elected to start in four consecutive All-Star Games (did not play in 2011 due to injury). Rickie Weeks was selected to his first All-Star Game as the NL’s starting second baseman and Prince Fielder started and made his third All-Star appearance in 2011. In 2010, Braun and Corey Hart started for the Brewers (Hart was named as a starter after an injury to Atlanta’s Jason Heyward).
 
In 2009, Braun and Fielder joined Trevor Hoffman as All-Stars. In addition to Braun in 2008, Hart was named that year to the National League All-Star team via the Monster All-Star Final Vote. In 2007, Fielder received the second-most votes in the National League en route to his first career All-Star team, becoming the first Brewers player to be voted to the All-Star Game since Paul Molitor was selected at third base in 1988. A complete list of All-Stars in franchise history can be found on page 285 of the 2014 Brewers media guide.
 
Both the National League and American League teams will have eight fan-elected starters. The pitchers and reserves for both will be determined through a combination of “Player Ballot” choices and selections made by the two All-Star managers.
 
Fans can vote for the Major League All-Stars online at Brewers.com through Thursday, July 3 at 10:59pm CT.

Brewers Injury Updates: Braun, Segura, Schafer, Kintzler

Here’s the latest from Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Brevard County.

Braun Having Relationship Issues With Rib Cage, Intercostal Discourse At Fault?

After he laid down a bunt base hit late in Saturday’s 5-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Miller Park, Ryan Braun was caught by television cameras explaining the action to first base coach Garth Iorg.

And while I don’t think he exactly said, “I only did that because my oblique is [feeling a bit off of normal],” the fact remains that Braun has a slight strain of his intercostal. It’s an ailment that’s plagued him in the past, including in both 2011 and 2012.

Braun was originally diagnosed as “day-to-day”. However, after Sunday’s game, manager Ron Roenicke reclassified him as likely to miss the next “three-to-five days”. Those are keys divisional road series in St. Louis (Monday thru Wednesday) and Cincinnati (Thursday thru Sunday).

The Brewers will miss his bat against the Cardinals. As such, Roenicke was non-committal about starting Elian Herrera in right field for all the games Braun misses, however many that turns out to be. When prompted with Mark Reynolds’ name, Roenicke recounted how Reynolds did play a game in right field for the Brewers during Cactus League play this year.

*** UPDATE – 5:03pm CT *** Adam McCalvy tweets that Braun underwent an MRI last night. Turns out the injury is to his oblique as opposed to the intercostal. Doesn’t necessarily change much with timeframe but they know how to specifically treat it now.

Segura Fortunate to Avoid More Serious Injury

Starting shortstop Jean Segura met with reporters following Sunday’s game to talk about his injury. He did so with a swollen right cheek and a gash on the same currently sealed up with stitches. Roenicke told the media on Saturday that his All-Star had avoided a concussion and any fractures.

It could have been much worse for the Dominican native, and he feared so at the time. “When it happened, I thought it was something bad. Today, I feel much better and thank God nothing was worse.”

When asked on Sunday about his vision, Segura said that he could see fine but that the swelling would need to go down before he could play. He was then asked if he thought he’d be able to play this week coming up.

“Definitely.”

Schafer Eyes Saturday Return

I spoke to injured Brewers outfielder Logan Schafer after the game on Sunday. He told me that he was set to test out his healing hamstring today (Monday) and then join the Class-A Advanced affiliate Brevard County Manatees for a rehab assignment.

The Brewers could use Schafer’s defense as well as his bat to be available again. Elian Herrera has filled in well enough defensively but hasn’t contributed much at the plate (2-for-13, both singles, .154 AVG with no walks) since being recalled 10 days ago.

Assuming Braun and Segura avoid the DL as is currently the plan publicly, Schafer’s return will likely come with the demotion of Herrera back to Nashville. That would likely be predicated on at least Segura returning to the field before then, as currently Herrera is the backup shortstop to Jeff Bianchi.

Schafer is eligible to return from the 15-day disabled list on Saturday, May 3rd in Cincinnati.

Kintzler Returns, Falls From the Unscored Upon

Relief pitcher Brandon Kintzler returned from the DL prior to the just completed weekend series with the Cubs at Miller Park. He made one appearance in the set, an inning of work on Sunday. In it, he allowed his first run of the season when Starlin Castro took him deep to left field. It ended Kintzler’s run with fellow setup man Will Smith and closer Francisco Rodriguez as Brewers relievers who had yet to surrender a run.

Having not gone on a rehab assignemtn, Kintzler will be eased back into setup work while recapturing any lost sharpness.